YouTube is not TV. It never will be. People don’t come to YouTube for polish, they come to YouTube for texture. They come to YouTube to see the world as it truly is, filled with people just like themselves. They come to be entertained and they come to learn.They come to witness our shared humanity. And they come back day after day.

Every minute, 400 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube. And every day, people watch one billion hours of videos on YouTube. That tremendous volume is echoed here in Canada, where watchtime on YouTube has grown 30% versus last year.

This week we hosted 700 of Canada’s top advertisers and agencies for our annual YouTube Pulse event. Because of the tremendous engagement of its fanbase, YouTube offers marketers something different from other mass media platforms.

The show featured a Canada 150 themed performance by Mike Tompkins, Daniela Andrade, KRNFX and the Bizzy Boom dance crew.

And as more people are watching more content across more devices, one of the YouTube offers marketers is attentive reach. When people are watching YouTube, they are engaged. They’re not just watching, they are commenting, watching related videos and sharing. According to recent Ipsos eye-tracking research in the U.S., attention to paid video advertising on YouTube's mobile app is 84% higher than on TV and 1.8X higher than on other social media platforms.

Sam Sebastian speaks to the capacity crowd.

YouTube Pulse also gave Canadian advertisers a glimpse of our new series and specials premiering exclusively on YouTube. We’ve partnered with YouTube creators, mainstream celebrities, and world-class production companies to create seven new, ad-supported series for YouTube. Featuring global superstars like Ellen DeGeneres, Rhett & Link and Kevin Hart (just to name a few), these new shows will be available to audiences globally later this year and offer our advertisers a chance to tap into the wide audience appeal of powerhouse talent and engage viewers as only YouTube can.

In fact, a recent study from Ipsos asked Canadians about the personalities that were most influential over the things they are thinking about, talking about, researching and buying. And overwhelmingly, Canadians that the personalities they watch on YouTube were more influential than mainstream personalities.

YouTube is one of the most dynamic, creative and inspiring communities in history: millions of voices, creating hundreds of millions of videos, all being watched by over a billion people. Come and join the conversation!